


Strength of Hunger

by DemonDaddy



Series: Starvation Fiction [20]
Category: Adventure Time, Avatar: The Last Airbender, DCU, Teen Titans
Genre: Starvation, Trapped on an island, hunger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-06-09 17:11:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6915961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemonDaddy/pseuds/DemonDaddy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raven, Toph, Lyra, Susan, and Power Girl are all trapped on an island and they have nothing to eat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strength of Hunger

Raven stared up at the huge, orange, overhanging sun and moaned. It was too hot out today and her empty tummy gurgled roughly as it felt like it was cooked. She rubbed her fingers over her sadly shivering muscled core and grumbled. "How much longer do we have to endure this? My tummy is a mess. It wants food so badly it won't shut up. It's driving me crazy."

 

"How did we get stuck in this situation anyway? Three days on this island and I'm ready to wreck someone. My tummy is too. Though it would probably eat them instead of beat them." Toph grumbled and stroked her midriff. She couldn't see the sun like Raven could but she could feel it beating down on her and it was making her crankier by the minute. Her rumbling tummy didn't help her mood either.

 

"Someone kidnapped us and dropped us here, remember? If I knew who I'd kick their butts. But since I don't all I can do is sit here and be hungry and hope someone notices I'm missing before my belly implodes from hunger." Power Girl stuck out her lower lip in a pout and scrubbed her growling middle. "I really hate it."

 

"Why someone do this to Susan? Susan never hurt anyone...that didn't deserve it." Susan Strong stroked her middle. The organs below let out a wild cry so she petted it more roughly to combat it. "Susan so hungry. Would eat anything."

 

She-Hulk's belly growled loudly and she rubbed it with both hands idly. Each of her strong muscles jiggled when her insides roared. "Who knows why some weirdo would do this? We're all heroes right? So maybe it's a global villain. Or something. They just want to watch my poor tummy waste away! Maybe it's simulation to break us mentally. Or just a rich crazy guy with a private island."

 

"In any case this is terrible! My tummy feels like a sinking pit of despair. I'm so hungry I can barely stand it. It wouldn't be so bad if I had my powers." Raven moaned and stroked her tummy in slow circles. She felt like it had been ages since she'd last eaten even though it had only been a little while. Her insides rumbled like an angry beast and she looked upon it with sadness. "I can't imagine what could be blocking all of our abilities."

 

She-Hulk nodded her agreement. "I can't believe how hungry I am. My insides feel so empty. I can hear how hollow I am every time my belly rumbles." Of course then her belly rumbled loud and clear for all to hear. She gestured at it before cringing and stroking the rumbling surface of her center.

"I just want to go home so I can eat." Toph sounded somewhere between annoyed and depressed. She hated feeling so idle, like all she could do was sit and wait as she starved. Her belly belched and gargled and she rubbed it methodically. "My tummy sounds really hungry. I'm afraid it is going to get worse if I don't eat something soon.

 

Power Girl ran both hands up and down her tummy and the organ below her skin shook and growled violently. "All I can think about is food. I don't remember the last time I was this empty inside. My tummy feels abandoned and it won't stop crying about it. I wish I had something to feed my empty insides.

 

Susan licked her lips and rubbed her growling gut. The muscles there were still firm but she could feel her insides getting softer with each passing moment they were left empty. "Susan's tummy very much weak. It making it hard to think or move. Soon Susan will start to rot if doesn't get something to eat."

 

Toph was inclined to agree. Her muscular middle shook harshly and she patted the belching ridges with her palm. "If I don't get some food soon my angry tummy is going to rebel. It's already making noises, soon it'll start tearing down my stomach lining or doing something equally horrible. I'm so hungry, I just want to feed it."

She-Hulk's tummy grumbled again more loudly and she sighed as she caressed it. "This is ridiculous. I just want some food, is that so much to ask for? My tummy is crying out and it sounds really depressed. Are we sure there isn't anything to eat in here?"

 

"We've already looked all over, remember? There isn't a morsel in sight. It's terrible but even a morsel would taste good right now, though I don't think it would help my gurgling belly any. I'm so empty I need at least a meal to sate my hunger." Power Girl patted her middle and it roared and protested her touch. It was only interested in food, but all she could give it was meager comfort.

 

"I just want to eat," Raven groaned pitifully. Her belly let out an equally pathetic sound and she rubbed it a little more roughly to soothe its growing volume and aggression. "My tummy is so empty I'm going crazy! I really want something to eat."

 

Power Girl looked around the span of island where she was confined and sighed. "Unfortunately I don't foresee food arriving to us any time soon. My hungry tummy just wants to eat, but I think it's going to go hungry for a lot longer." She nervously rubbed her belly and some of the other girls shot her looks, but she shrugged in sad reluctance.

 

It turned out she was unsurprisingly correct. Hours seeped by with no changes. No help came, no food appeared.

 

Susan groaned as she stared upward. She had taken to lying on her back to ease some of the pressure in her tummy, but it wasn't really helping. Her belly still rumbled and she had to pet it to keep it from getting louder. "Tummy so hungry. Susan want food bad. Need food for emptiness. Insides so hollow."

 

Toph frowned and rubbed her stomach in circles. It gargled at her offensively. "My tummy is so sad. It just keeps crying. I'm really empty so the sounds echo and it sounds really bad in there. I'm so hungry I can't even describe the feeling of it anymore."

 

"It's sort of like I'm a cardboard tub with all the yummy ice-cream scooped out," Power Girl ventured. Her tummy let out a rippling roar and she stroked it with both palms against her center. "My tummy is so empty I think its going to digest itself. I'm actually really worried."

 

"I know what you mean. My belly keeps whining and crying every minute. It's making me really tired and I was already exhausted! Not having in food inside my tummy makes me feel really weak. Soon I won't have the energy to rub my belly anymore." Raven frowned and slowly soothed her middle with her hand as she spoke. All the while deep groans punctuated her sentences and increased her worry.

 

"I hate this," She-Hulk moaned. Her belly echoed the sound more deeply and she petted it to calm it down. "My tummy sounds like an old car trying to start up. It needs fuel or it isn't going to run, its just going to sit and sputter. I wish I had something to eat so I could power up my poor middle."

 

Toph gritted her teeth when a particularly hard growl shook her belly and then the rest of her. She tried to ease the offensive sounds with the passes of her hands, but it did nothing to stop the gurgles of hunger and want. "I just want a simple meal. No big deal. I don't see why this has to be so frustrating. I want to go home so I can feed my empty belly."

 

Raven kicked at some sand in annoyance then cringed when her belly moaned loudly. She clasped at it with both hands and rubbed the irritated abdomen. "Someone has to be looking for us. Between the five of us there has to be at least one capable companion. Someone will save us. I just don't want to wait any longer! MY stomach is a loud, angry beast. I need to eat something right now. Even the sand is starting to look tempting."

 

"Trust me you do not want an empty belly trying to digest sand. It will only make it way worse. Believe me, if it were edible I'd have eaten it all up by now. My tummy is so empty I could probably devour the entire island's worth." Toph rubbed her gut with one hand and toyed with sand in the other. Her belly burbled and belched but she knew it was unwise to eat anything presented by the island.

 

"That's a shame," said She-Hulk. Her belly burped and burbled and she massaged it with her long fingers. Her muscles felt flabby under her hands, like they too were growing weak. "I don't know if I can go much longer without anything to eat. I might go nuts."

 

"I wish we had some nuts. Or fruit. Or anything. What kind of island is this empty? And evil one! My tummy is getting just as barren as this trap." Power Girl moped and rubbed her whiny gut. Her insides were getting fussier by the second and she was growing impatient alongside it.

 

Susan Strong gripped her muscular gut and it rattled under her massive hands. She moaned back at it, but it was unaffected by her taunt. "So hungry! I want food! Belly needs to eat soon. It make so many unpleasant sounds."

 

"You want to talk about unpleasant? Did you hear that squeal my tummy let out earlier? It sounded like tires screeching to a stop," Power Girl said. Her middle made more obnoxious sounds and she stroked it to try to soothe it.

 

She-Hulk rubbed her gut and it let out a squishing whine. "How about my tummy? It's so empty it sounds like a wet rag sloshing in a puddle. It's gross. I wish I had something to eat to ease the sounds." She ran her hands around and around her middle as it quivered some more. All she could think about was eating and that didn't make her center any less upset.

 

"My gut sounds like an angry bear or something. It won't stop growling for meat. I wish I could stuff it full so it would be quiet. Heck, I'd eat a bear if I thought it would help." Raven looked sullenly at her gut and it rumbled and shook as it had for days. She rubbed it over and over, but it didn't help much.

 

Toph rubbed her tummy and could feel the rumbles through her entire body. She could sense just how empty she truly was and that added a whole other depth of hunger to the experience. "My belly sounds like a cart with a broken wheel. It just keeps clunking along even though it is broken. I wish I could feed it so it would sound normal again. That is to say, it would shut up." She stroked her middle and tried to ignore the sensations as her tummy rumbled with a fresh cries.

  

Raven looked all around and stood on shaky legs. "Are we sure there is nothing to eat here? What about in the water? Any fish?" She started off toward the shoreline but her stomach squelched and she paused to rub her belly. "I'm so hungry I'm willing to fish with my hands."

 

She-Hulk shook her head. Her own tummy rumbled and she caressed it with a sigh. "Don't waste your energy. There isn't anything there and you know it. You should just sit down and conserve strength. My tummy is way too empty for anymore wandering around and I don't think yours is much better off."

 

"She's right," said Toph. The bender's belly gurgled and she rubbed it absently. "If we get stuck here for a long time you'll need that energy to survive. I already feel like my tummy is eating itself. I don't want to know what it will be in a few days."

 

Raven reluctantly took her seat in the sand and stroked her belly. It growled angrily. "I just thought I could double check, but you all are right. Best save my strength. My tummy is already hollow and fussy. If I work too hard it'll get meaner."

 

Power Girl looked concerned as she rubbed her growling midsection. "I'm sure we won't be here that long. I mean saving energy is a good idea just in case, but we have to be found soon, right? I hate to think I'll starve much more. I'm already so hungry I'd eat just about anything."

 

Susan shook her head. "Susan get feeling tummies be hungry long time. Tummy empty and need food. No food to come soon. Save strength."

 

The consensus was wise. A few more days pushed by and the girls were sure they weren't going to survive when no help came.

 

Toph groaned and her belly mimicked the sound. She stroked her center and it quivered roughly under her broad hand. "I can't take this much longer! My tummy is so super empty. It needs something to eat now! Who would do this to us? I'm starving!"

 

"I'm hungry too, but it isn't going to get better by yelling," Raven said. Her tummy screamed out despite her words and she tenderly scrubbed it with her palm. "My insides are empty and my tummy is cranky enough."

 

"I can't say I blame her for screaming," She-Hulk said. Her own tummy shook and rumbled loudly enough for all to hear. She rubbed it out as she had for days but the sounds persisted through her palm. "My belly is growling up a storm. I feel like screaming too, but that's not good for my anger issues. I just really want something to eat. I feel like I don't remember what food tastes like."

 

"I'm too weak to scream. I feel like I have no energy. With no food and no powers I don't think I'm going to last. I feel like I got hit with kryptonite. I'm exhausted and starving. I want some food to power me back up," said Power Girl. Her tummy gurgled for said energy, but she could only rubbed it with her hands to calm it. The gesture did little.

 

"Susan want food so bad would hunt down all of kingdom for a meal. Would eat candy people. Would battle monsters. Would do anything. Tummy need food so Susan have strength." Susan pouted at her rumbling gut, but it just kept on whining. "Be quiet!" She punched her center then whimpered and rubbed it instead. It just groaned the same as always.

 

"It's even worse because my muscles feel like they are turning to inedible jelly." Power Girl added. Her tummy roared and she stroked her tummy and felt those muscles that were going sadly limp. "They used to be tight and my stomach full, but with no food my organs and muscles are going weak. Soon they'll vanish into blubber, then rot away completely."

 

"Susan know feeling. Tummy once strong because Susan Strong. Then get weaker and weaker. Now like a pudding that cannot eat." Susan rubbed her center and it garbled and the flesh over her tummy shivered and shook loosely as she slowly lost her shape. "So hungry!"

 

"My core isn't feeling so hot either. When we get off this island I'm going to need to train a ton to get back in shape. My muscles are turning all flabby. They shake when my belly moans. If I could eat it would be better. I need to carbo load!" Toph grinded her palm against her stomach and it did inside shift and shake as it roared. It made the bender feel even more weakened.

 

Raven groped at her middle and it roared and fussed. She tried rubbing it in different patterns but it didn't make much of difference no matter what she did. She could feel her own muscles slowly going saggy, even though they still held their shape for the time being they were much softer than before. "My muscles are going limp too. Soon I'll be a pile of flesh. If I could eat I'd go back to normal though, nice and strong. I really want a good meal. I hope we don't have to wait much longer."

 

She-Hulk palmed her center with her large hands, but the sounds seeped through. He organs made unpleasant sounds that echoed all over the island. She found herself wishing there was even a grain of food she could consume, but she knew there was nothing. All she could do was rub at her weakening, whining tummy. "I need food so bad. I just want to go home and big out. I'd eat my weight in food. Maybe more. My tummy is so empty I'd have the space for sure."

 

Power Girl stroked her center over and over out of habit. She barely thought about the action much anymore. She licked her lips as she thought of pigging out like She-Hulk had mentioned. Her belly gurgled loudly in response. "I think I'd go to the biggest buffet in the world and try one of everything. I never realized how much I took eating for granted. I want a pizza so bad I could scream, but I'd settle for bread or a cracker or something too. I just really need to eat before my tummy eats itself. I just want to go home. We've been here long enough!"

 

The other girls were inclined to agree.

 

Despite what they would have liked the girls were forced to stay even longer. By the end of the first week of their confinement they were feeling very weak and tired. They could barely even sleep at night because of the sounds of their bellies.

 

Raven tried anyway and her sunken eyes attempted to fall closed every few minutes from sheer exhaustion. However her tummy was not content to allow her to do so and every time she was almost in a relaxed state her middle would cry out, hard and wily as ever, and she would shoot awake to caress her stressed middle with her palm. "I wish I could sleep," Raven moaned after the dozen or so time this happened one evening. It gurgled even louder once her hand dipped down to stroke her stomach. It growled low and angry. "My tummy is so empty it refuses to be quiet. It just keeps growling every minute. I can't stand it. Its miserable moans are enough to wake the dead."

 

"That's probably good. It can resurrect us when we all go out from starvation," Toph said darkly. Her own stomach made an abominable sound and she groaned and rolled onto her side before stroking the center of her gurgling gut. "Personally I don't feel like I'll last much longer. I'm so hungry it feels like my tummy is deteriorating me. I'm crazy empty." Her organs continued to shake under her hands, unaffected by her efforts. She sighed and tried to hunker down for sleep again, but it just wasn't happening.

 

She-Hulk's voice emerged from her groggily. "I see you two are up again. My stomach won't let me get more than a few winks either. I'm so hungry. I really want to feed my poor tummy so the aches will stop and I can sleep. For now though it just keeps screaming. I don't think my belly can get a lot noisier. But then in a few days I might be wrong, it'll get louder. Or be starved out. Whichever comes first." In rebellion her tummy whined loudly and she rubbed it with tired fingers. It shook under her palm even when the louder sounds temporarily subsided, the silent rumbles kept on.

 

Susan moaned and rolled onto her back, but the other girls could see even in the dark that her eyes were open again. Her body felt heavy, like lead, even though she was barren on the inside. "Susan so hungry. Need food. Want to go home. Susan sick of stupid beach. Susan want to sleep. Tummy is empty and loud. Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle." Her belly echoed the sound she mimicked and she simply shook her head in defeat and rubbed the noisy organs below her flesh. "So empty."

 

Power Girl wiggled over so she could face the other girls. "I couldn't sleep either. This is the third night in a row. I feel like I'm going to drop from exhaustion, but I just can't rest. My tummy won't stop waking me. It's miserable, but I can't feed it. I wish there was even a scrap to eat in this place. Anything." Power Girl's tummy rumbled at the prospect and she was left to stroke it to remind it once more that food was only a concept, not a reality. Her belly didn't understand and kept on moaning for something to eat.

 

"We'd all give anything to eat at this point," She-Hulk said sadly. Her once strong middle wiggled and swayed with an especially rough gurgle. She palmed circles over her center and hoped the sounds would ease. "I'm so hungry that I'd jump through hoops for a morsel to devour. My tummy is going crazy so any chance to feed it would be good. I'd run a marathon too. I mean, if I could even move."

 

"I know what you mean," said Power Girl. "I'm willing to do anything for a bite to eat, but at this point I don't know if I physically could. I'm so weak I can barely lift my arms. All my muscle isn't helping me feel any stronger. It doesn't help that my tummy is turning to gelatin from lack of exercise and nutrition. If I had a snack I bet I'd bulk back up." She rubbed her groaning tummy as it angrily quaked again and again.

 

"I'm so weak it's hard to think," Toph chimed in. "I feel like my tummy is churning around and around and its using up all my strength. I just want a single meal and I know I'd have more energy. Going hungry for so long is just draining me completely." Her stomach quivered and gurgled and she rubbed it with both hands. She could feel it shifting and shaking under the surface and wondered if it was trying to digest itself.

 

"I'm so hungry I feel like I'm evaporating. Like I'm nothing but water and air so I'm vanishing. I've never been this weak or tired in my life and it's all because I'm hungry." Raven whined and her gut did the same. She caressed it with her hands but the muscles in her fingers kept cramping and the touch barely did anything to help. It made the experience all the more unfavorable. She shuddered when a cold chill ran up her spine. "It feels like my stomach is trying to claw its way out of me."

 

"Susan know the feeling. Stomach claw and whine and fight for freedom. Stomach sad little fighter. No food for victory though. Only sadness." Susan gave her belly a sympathetic glance and stroked her fingers along the curve of it. It wiggled and groaned under her touch, but she didn't chastise it, only petted it and watched it sadly. "Wish Susan could feed the tummy. It's so sad. Not enough energy to even pretend. No strength to search. No rescue coming."

 

"We don't know that no one is coming," Raven protested. Though honestly even she had started to give up hope of her friends locating her. She wondered if they even knew she was missing. She had heard of time traps before, places where heroes got trapped in horrible loops until their miserable ends. It was her greatest fear, that they were locked inside while the worlds they knew had barely moved forward at all. Her stomach rumbled loudly and broke her away from those thoughts. She stroked her middle and tried to picture the best outcome instead. "We just have to hold on. My tummy is hungry, but that doesn't mean this is the end."

 

"I don't know, Raven. My belly is really weak. It feels like it's totally collapsed now and it is just eating up my power out of spite. I find it hard to believe we're going to be rescued," Power Girl confessed. Her belly growled low and sad and she rubbed it with her knuckles despite knowing it was a pointless action. Her insides kept right on rumbling. "I like to think we will be, but honestly I don't see it. I just hope whoever did this doesn't really want us to starve. I hope they come back to feed us. I'm not too proud to beg for food at this point."

  

"Much as I hate to admit it, PG is right. Even I'd get down and beg a little," Toph admitted with apparent shame. "I'm starving, my tummy is a void, I can't afford pride right now. Too costly." Her tummy rumbled for good measure and she gestured to it to make her point before continuing with her meager stroking.

 

"Me too. I said I'd do anything right? Totally includes begging. I just want a little food. It's not even like it would be that big of a deal. I feel stupid for every meal I ever wasted, every scrap I ever threw out. I'll never order more than I can eat again!" She-Hulk simpered. She rubbed her tummy in anticipation of the next roar and it met her on schedule. Her belly squelched and screamed on and on as she rubbed it and pouted. "My tummy is so empty I'd even eat from a garbage can."

 

"Susan also regrets waste. So much food just thrown. Need to eat now badly. Susan would love old food so much now. Tummy would love more. Tummy would hush." Susan caressed her noisy belly and it indeed it rumbled for it lacked a scrap to dissolve. Susan thought of all the candy trash, all of the food she had ever seen anyone throw away. She was no stranger to scraps, but even she had never gone so long without eating.

 

More time passed by and the girls became so desperate for a meal that they started to limply dig in the sand in search of crabs or dead fish or anything they could sink their teeth in to. The trial was fruitless and they continued to starve for days on end.

 

"We're gonners," Toph lamented. Her belly joined in the sad chorus and moaned as she did. She rubbed it weakly, but her wrist was limp and unimpassioned. It was clear she was exhausted, even of being hungry. It took a lot of effort to complain, and to fuel an empty, moaning gut. "My tummy is ready to throw in the towel. It's over. The end. It's too barren to go on."

"I know! I'm rotting out over here. My tummy is eating my muscles up. I can barely see the definition anymore. I'm starting to think we really are doomed," She-Hulk added. Her belly didn't make her feel any better about her assumption. It gurgled and wailed as she rubbed it and it refused to go silent. "I'm so hungry!! I'm going crazy!"

 

"Susan feel crazy also! Madness poisons empty belly then reaches into mind and strangles the sense! Tummy empty, needs filled or else." Susan roared like she was going to go into a rage but her energy quickly was zapped by her gurgling tummy and she went limp as quickly as she had amped up and started to rub her tender middle.

"I'm sure someone has to be watching. I think they hate us. This is so much worse than killing us or fighting us. It's torture! I just want to eat. But there isn't even anything on this island but sand!" Power Girl let handfuls of sand rush through her fingers as she dug into the ground and lifted the sad findings. The grains slipped right through her digits and she whimpered. "Not even a measly hermit crab. What kind of island doesn't have fish in the water? What kind of place doesn't have any life at all? It's a set up, a trap and we're stuck in it! There has to be an exit right? My tummy is so hungry! I have to get out and feed it." Her belly gurgled woefully and she groped at it with trembling fingers. She didn't want this place to be her grave, but she thought soon she would surely starve.

 

"Try to calm down. Even if someone wants us to starve that doesn't mean we have to give up. Maybe we should try checking the island. If it isn't real maybe there is somewhere we can escape to?" Raven made the weak suggestion and knew before the others glared that it was a poor idea. "I know, we're all too hungry. I just don't want it to end like this. I just want one more good and filling meal before it's all over. We should at least try, right?" Her belly gurgled with uncertainty and she rubbed it to keep it as quiet as she could.

 

"Go ahead," said Toph bluntly. "But I don't have the strength. I can't see it, but I can feel it. Look." She lifted her shirt to show off how her stomach gurgled and how limp it was. The muscles looked droopy, like a balloon missing a bit of air. "Do you see how empty I am? I know it's visible. I'm sinking in on the inside too. I feel the hunger all the way to my bones. My tummy is noisy and empty enough as it is. I won't overwork it on pointless hunches." Then her belly grumbled and it visible shook. She sighed, lowered her shirt, and rubbed it again.

 

 

"She's right. Besides, we've been all over this island, Raven. End to end. If there were food we'd have found it already and eaten and starved all over again. We’ve discussed it over and over. There is nothing here for us. It's a stage." She-Hulk sounded sad but resolved. She rubbed her tummy idly as it rumbled. "We're all just too exhausted and hungry to waste time looking for food. And my tummy is already peeved for me not eating, I don't want to hear it if I try to move around."

 

"It's true. I just think there has to be an exit somewhere," Raven said. She wanted to believe there was an out to this. Her stomach started to growl again as she even considered a search. She caressed her tummy, but it moaned on. She could feel it clutching inside, begging for food in the only ways it could. "It is pointless though. We've been all over. I'm just so hungry. I just want off this island so I can feed my hungry belly."

 

“Susan want off scary island too. Want food. Tummy is so empty, Susan wants to feed it so bad. Stage must have exit. Just invisible. Susan hopes someone take pity. Need to eat soon or else,” Susan moped. She looked out toward the sea and it seemed strangely void. It was wrong, but there was nothing they could do about it. She rubbed her tummy idly. It groaned deep and rumbling, miserable from its own emptiness.

 

Toph smoothed her hands over her tummy again and couldn’t help but notice how flaccid her gut had become. It no longer had the strength to stay firm and taught. She sighed as it grumbled out and she rubbed it as best she could with tired fingers. “I just wish I had one last meal. I’m so barren inside. I really just want the joy of filling up on one last meal. My tummy is crazy for it.”

 

“I know what you mean. I wouldn’t want to starve out again, but a final dish would be nice. I just want to be reminded what’s it like to eat one last time. My tummy feels so empty I barely remember what full feels like anymore.” Power Girl lamented her shared sadness as she stroked her moaning, grumbling gut. It gurgled more at the mention of food.

 

She-Hulk nodded. “I don’t want to be morbid, but it does feel like we’re getting to the end of the line. I’ve never felt so weak. My tummy barely has the energy to growl, much less power me up. I’m so hungry, I just want one last snack! Maybe a cupcake or something else sweet. I would give anything for something tasty on my lips one last time.”

 

“I’d choose a hot potato for my last few bites. It’s tasty and filling and that veggie was always there for me no matter how hungry I got. I’d give a lot for one last ‘tato,” Toph said. She rubbed her tummy longingly and moaned in one long growl. “My tummy would give anything for it too. It would feel good to swallow that hot, filling spud.”

 

Susan rolled on the sand pointlessly before settling back down to rub her tummy while she rested on her side. The new position made her belly grumble with twice the volume. “Susan want marshmallow. Big one. Sticky and big and filling for whole tummy. Wants to eat and eat until BOOM! Big, yummy blow up.”

 

“I want a cheeseburger. Just any kind, but preferably one with everything on it, slathered in sauces. I don’t care about the calories or anything. I just want to taste it and feel it in my empty tummy. I want to get fat on it before it’s too late. That’s what I want,” Power Girl said wistfully. Her belly rumbled like a truck coming over gravel at the very mention of food. She stroked it but it growled through her fingers.

 

Raven sighed and sunk back against the sand. The position grew less comfortable with each passing day as the ground began to feel more and more like the last place she’d ever know. Still it was better than wasting energy by sitting up. Her organs gurgled and groaned and she shifted her tired hands over her middle to ease the noise. “I’m wasting away. I wish I could say a slice of pizza would be better than nothing, but it wouldn’t. I need real food. I need a whole meal. I need to fill my empty tummy or I’m going to lose my mind. I shouldn’t have to suffer this. None of us should.”

 

Toph’s abs jiggled loosely as her belly gurgled and whined. The acid inside squished around with nothing to absorb it and all she could do was pet it as she imagined herself filling her barren innards with tasty food. “That’s a good point. I don’t think anything would be enough unless I knew I could go back to eating like normal. I swear if we get out of this I’ll never take a meal for granted again. I just want to eat. I miss feeling strong and full. My tummy is just so empty it’s eating itself.” Her stomach moaned again for good measure as she rubbed it and expressed her woe.

 

“I just wish it didn’t sound so angry. I feel like it is yelling at me for making it go hungry. It isn’t my fault, tummy! I want to eat too! I just can’t.” Power Girl pouted and caressed her center rigorously. The pressure only forced out more groans and growls from her belly. “Listen! It sounds like an angry bear or something, growling for food like I can do anything about it.”

 

“My tummy sounds like a miserable old man, waving his cane around and complaining. It’s terrible. I wish I could feed it so it would be happy again. I miss eating so much. I wish I could feel full again.” Raven stroked her middle and it quivered under her palm. Her muscles were loose, no longer capable of holding their shape after weeks of hunger. “I’ve never been this void. I’m the emptiest I’ve ever been in my whole life. I feel like my insides have been scooped out.” Her middle grumbled again, it indeed sounded sad and pitiful.

 

“Susan’s tummy like black hole in space. Swallow everything, fill nothing. It groans and whines but never stops. Susan want to feed it so much, but no people made of food here,” Susan said a bit cryptically. She rubbed her stomach and it shuddered and growled under her touch. It sounded rougher than ever before as it grew impatient for something to eat and digest. It gurgled again and again as she moved her hand over her middle. Her skin shifted loosely, her muscles too had taken a serious hit.

 

She-Hulk looked up at the sky and the stars looked bleary high above her. “I can’t even see straight anymore. I’m exhausted and starving. I feel like I’m disappearing as I go hungry. I never knew hunger could feel like this. It doesn’t hurt, it just sucks. I want to eat so much! I want a tasty treat to eat for hours or minutes, my choice, no obligation. My tummy would love food and maybe it would forgive me for making it hungry.” Her tummy gurgled wildly and she patted it in an up and down pattern. She listened to the soft hits echo through her hallow core under the sound of squelching. It made her feel even more hopeless that she’d ever be full again.

“Susan wish tummy stop being so flabby. Susan hate flab. Want to eat and eat so belly will be thick and powerful. Right now is fleshy and empty. Want food!” Susan rolled around again until she tired herself out, which didn’t take longer. She massaged her tummy with both hands and thought of all the food she was being denied.

 

“Me too. My gut is flab central. My muscles have gone to goo these last few weeks, but I have no energy to exercise. Soon I’ll be a puddle with no food to speak of. I’ll still be bubbling though since my noisy tummy won’t be quiet.” She-Hulk sighed heavily and caressed her core with both palms. It squished and moved irregularly under her hands as more proof of her loss of shape. Her stomach gurgled inside and roared with each new touch that brought no food to it.

 

“Hah! I don’t even know how long it would take to get in shape if we did get fed. My stomach is pudding. Oh, wow. I shouldn’t have said pudding. It makes my loud belly growl even louder. I swear I’ve never heard so much noise before!” Toph rubbed her gut and it moaned passionately for a meal. “Did you hear that? I told you! Noisy, noisy, noisy! It doesn’t care that it’s keeping me awake or making me more hungry, it just growls like a mindless thing hungry for food but with no brain at all.”

 

“It doesn’t have a brain and it is hungry,” Raven pointed out. “Though it does feel like my tummy has a mind of its own. It keeps screaming and revolting. I feel like it’s going to eat itself then climb out of me in protest. I’m afraid it will leave me behind so I can starve without it. I know that sounds weird.” She petted her tummy and it groaned low and dangerous, almost like it was threatening her as she predicted.

 

Power Girl shook her head tiredly. “Not at all. It sounds totally legit. My tummy goes between sounding sad and angry too. It just cries and moans until I can’t think about anything else. It’s impossible to forget how hungry I am because my tummy is so noisy! It is demanding food, I wish I spoke tummy so it would stop moaning if I asked.” As if to mock her, her stomach let out a self-righteous growl that echoed through the air. She caressed her belly in response, but it was solely out of habit. She felt almost like she was praising her tummy for its outburst, but she didn’t like lying idle without even pretending to tend to her unfortunate stomach.

 

Raven stroked her center rhythmically as it started to howl with fresh cries. “Oh great, the night tremors are starting. I think my insides know I’ll want to rest soon so they start growling louder. My belly thinks if it harasses me enough I’ll fed it. Would if I could. I wish it would calm down. I’m hungry enough without the noise reminding me how badly I miss eating. I wish it wasn’t so noisy. I want it to be quiet so bad, but it’s too cranky to shut up!”

 

“I know how you feel. I’m even getting tired of complaining,” She-Hulk confessed. “But my tummy is never quiet. It’s like a monster set to ruin my life. It growls nonstop. I’m so hungry, I don’t need the stress of all the noise too. It’s wearing me out. I have no energy left, I swear. Every minute I feel like my body might just give up, but I bet my tummy would keep on growling without me.” Her belly growled again, rough and violent. She patted it rapidly and it wore out her wrist before too long.

 

“I know you get it, none of us have slept. Our tummies won’t let us rest at all.” Raven’s belly growled and burbled. She stroked her palms up and down it and felt the loose, groaning flesh shift. Her poor abs were soft and pitiful and it only made Raven feel even more sorry for herself. “I’m so hungry and tired. I have no energy. I need to eat or I’ll never sleep again.”

 

“I feel the same. I’m so hungry, but I’m almost as tired.” Toph rubbed her gurgling belly and sighed. “I don’t think there is anything we can do besides wait it out. Our bellies have to be quiet eventually right?”

 

It turned out they didn’t. They got louder and louder as the night grew later, just like always. Even though the girls were void of energy it seemed their tummies were not.

 

By the time the sun was completely gone the girls could barely think straight.

 

Power Girl’s hand moved limply over her tummy. Her stomach gurgled and shuddered under her hand. She could feel the vibrations of the roars rolling through her vacant belly. “So hungry,” she whispered. “Need food. Tummy so empty.”

 

Susan laughed weakly but the sound was devoid of much humor. “Other girls sound like Susan. Hungry. Brief. Food good. Tummy hungry. Ugh. Tired.” Her belly did enough talking for her however. It growled fiercely and she patted it with half-hearted touch.

 

Eventually the women all blacked out from sheer exhaustion. Their stomachs moaned on through their sleep, but they could no longer stay awake in the weakened states they were in. All the while though, they scarcely rested for their minds were plagued by thoughts of food and starvation.

 

Susan wandered through a corrupted version of the Candy Kingdom. The entire world was made of candy, but it bent and twirled out of her reach at every turn. She tried to through herself at it, just to get a taste, but it did nothing. “Come back! Susan hungry! Tummy need to eat!” Even in her dream she had to rub her tummy as it moaned, but the sound just grew louder and echoed all around her as she wandered through the avoiding city that was set to watch her starve.

 

Power Girl dreamed she was trapped in a box of a room with a table full of food. At first her heart rejoiced at the sight, but as she ran toward the table more and more of the delicious meal vanished before her eyes. She ran faster and the food disappeared even quicker. He belly grumbled violently and she rubbed it as she ran. “Hold on,” she said. Her voice echoed unnaturally. “We’re almost to food!”

 

By the time she reached the table everything was gone. She was left with only walls all around her, closer than they’d been. She was in a cage, a trap. “No,” she moaned. “I’m so hungry. My tummy is too empty. I need that food. I need it!”

 

She-Hulk dreamt she was surrounded by food. It was the floors and the walls and her needy tummy moaned out for it. She patted her tummy eagerly. “At last! I’m going to eat it all!”  
  
She lunged forward and pulled a sandwich from the walls. Yet when she brought it toward her lips it smelled terrible. She looked down to find it was rotten. She dropped it in terror and grabbed for something else. The slab of pie she took hold of turned sour. So did the next item and the next. Her belly moaned for a meal and she clutched at it in fear and sorrow. “No! I’m so hungry, my tummy is going insane! I’m turning into a wrinkled raisin. I need to eat you! Stop rotting!”  
  
The walls were not inclined to listened. They started to rot all around her.

 

“No!” She shrieked. “Nooooo!”

 

Toph dreamt of darkness full of vague shapes, as she often did. However she could smell food nearby and her tummy screamed for it. “Hello? Is anyone there? Do you have food? I need something to eat! Maybe you could share? My tummy is a pit and I need to feed it. Hello?”

 

Her voice echoed around her. No one answered and she could sense nothing. She tried to follow the scent toward food, but it never seemed to get any closer. She couldn’t figure out where the smell was coming from. Her belly gurgled and she stroked it lovingly with the promise of food on her mind. Still she could find nothing.

 

“Where are you food? My tummy needs you inside it now.” Her belly kept gurgling, belching and flinching under her palm. She couldn’t find the source of the scent though no matter how she searched. “Where is it!?”

 

Raven’s sleep was plagued by a dream of her own. She thought she was at home in the Titan Tower. She was sitting on her couch all alone in the house when her belly started t growl. She rubbed it and licked her lips in anticipation of a meal. “Hmm, I’m really hungry. Better grab some lunch.”

 

She made her way to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. It was empty from top to bottom. Her belly gave a pitiful rumble. She caressed it. “It’s okay, tummy. We’ll find something.”  
  
Raven checked the cabinet next and then the drawers. As she looked around she grew more frantic and the hollow pit in her stomach seemed to grow to immeasurable levels. “I need food,” she muttered. Her belly cried out angrily. “I know you are mad,” she snapped. “There has to be something to eat! I’m so hungry! So empty.”  
  
As she lumbered around she grew weaker and weaker until she fell to the kitchen floor. “No. I’m wilting,” she cried. “My tummy is a barren pit. I’m shriveling up.” She touch her stomach and felt it tremble and sink. She thought she would turn to nothing in seconds and fear overtook her.

 

Raven jolted from her dream first to the sound of a thundering groan that shook her to her core. She shot up and instantly regretted wasting the energy to sit up. Still she couldn’t undo it. So she rubbed her tummy with both palms to soothe the savage sounds. She sighed as she steadied her heart rate back to normal since the nightmare had startled her. “I’m so hungry,” she whispered. “This is terrible. I just want a little something to eat. I’m not even picky. I just don’t want to waste away.”

Toph startled herself away next and her belly greeted her with a deep grumble that echoed all around. Toph groaned as she realized she’d been dreaming. She rubbed her tummy and tried to soothe it. “I know you’re hungry, tummy. I wish I could fill you up. I know you’re fussy.”

 

“Couldn’t sleep either?” Raven asked.

 

“I’m just so hungry, I couldn’t rest a wink without thinking of food,” Toph admitted.

 

“Me too,” said Raven.

 

She-Hulk woke with a groan of confusion, then a groan of memory. She rolled onto her back and her tummy moaned much louder than she had. She put her hands on her tummy in sad resolve and stroked. Her stomach grumbled under her palm. “Hush. I know you’re hungry. Ugh. I’m so hungry I’m talking to myself. As if my tummy isn’t chatty enough.”

Power Girl heard the talking around her and gasped awake. “What? Huh? Oh.” She quivered on her arms as she pushed up into a sitting position and started to rub her belly. It quivered and gurgled. “Oh, I’m just so hungry. My tummy is really sad and empty. I think it’s even droopier than when I fell asleep too.”

 

“Did we wake you?” asked Toph with concern.

 

“No,” said Power Girl. “Nightmares. About food. My tummy is haunting my brief sleep. I’m such an empty pit on the inside that all I can think about is food I can’t eat.” She sighed and stroked her tummy softly.

 

“Us too,” said Raven. She knew it was true without having to confirm it, but the other girls nodded anyway.

 

Susan was last to awaken from her foodless terror. She shot straight up and roared like a frightened animal before she recalled where she was and fell back to the ground from the strain of her exhaustion. She groped at her trembling, roaring gut and moaned and whined as it did. “Susan so hungry! Bad dreams full of lies! Belly angry and empty and mean.” She whimpered and stroked her middle and it gurgled and roared unaffected. “Susan hate this island,” she growled through gritted teeth.

 

“We all hate it,” said Raven with sympathy. “We all had bad dreams too. It’s just what we have to endure being without food. I’m so hungry though, I thought I was going to fade away. Now that I’m awake it doesn’t feel a lot better. I swear I’m as hollow as a drum. I could probably bang out a baseline on my tummy. Or I could if it wasn’t getting so drooping.” She pinched her tummy and found it was flabby indeed. It gurgled at her touch and she could only rub it despite her exhaustion.

 

Toph felt out her own belly and frowned. Her once strong gut was weak and limp under her fingers now. It had no rebound save for the harsh rumbles that quaked her fingers. “I’ve never felt so helpless. I can’t even stand. My tummy is eating me from the inside too. I feel like it’s getting revenge for me not feeding it. I don’t know. I just hate it.” Her belly growled as if to express shared dislike and she rubbed it. “I know it isn’t your fault,” she said sadly.

 

She-Hulk whimpered and squeezed her belly. It groaned in response and shuddered. “I’m so hungry I can’t even sleep anymore. I wish I had a burger, or ice-cream, or fish, or fries, or salad, or cake or literally anything to eat! I’d even eat cat at this point. Anything!” She rolled on the ground then groaned when she regretted it.

 

Power Girl nodded her agreement though none of the other girls were looking at her. She petted her middle and tried not to writhe as it whimpered and echoed with its hollow nature. “My tummy is way too noisy to sleep again. It just keeps rumbling me awake. I’m so empty I can’t stand it anymore! I wish I could eat sand! I’m starving.”

 

“Susan doesn’t have much hope for food. Susan only lay and pet tummy. It so hollow, Susan scream. Susan wish food fall from sky. Food not so nice. Belly not so nice.” Her tummy rumbled and quivered and she had to pet it with her large hands. It shook under her palms and she felt like sinking into the sand just so the ceaseless hunger would dissipate.

 

That night they spent all of their time whining and talking about how hungry they were. They talked about what they wanted to eat. They talked about their bad dreams. What they didn’t do was sleep.

 

Another week more passed by. Exhaustion weighed on them so they couldn't move more than to stroke their flabby, gurgling bellies.

 

By the end of an entire month on the island their bellies were loud and their hands had fallen into patterns. They could barely think or complain and each woman was sure that any moment could be their last.

 

Toph laid in the sand with her blank eyes open wide. She saw nothing but she looked toward the sky. Her belly’s sounds reverberated in her head like a chant. She stroked her gut up and down. She could feel her muscles were all but gone, her tummy was sunken in. She wanted to fill it up with food, but it seemed like a dream that would never come true. “I think this is really it. I can’t go another day without food. I’m too weak. My tummy is too angry. It won’t let me go on with nothing to eat.”

 

She-Hulk whimpered and stared off into space as well. She caressed her middle and it cramped and gurgled under her palms. She stroked it hard and soft in no pattern in particular. Her belly just kept on moaning no matter what she did, but it didn’t matter to her much anymore. It was all just part of the ritual. She followed up with what she was feeling. “I’m starving. I can’t believe how hungry I am. I just want a little to eat so my tummy will hush. It’s so loud. It’s deafening, I swear. Without food I’m not going to last.”

 

Raven stroked her tummy, but she felt numb. She looked out at the sea and thought of fish, of crab, of all the yummy seafood she didn’t have. Her belly gurgled roughly as usual and she merely sighed and patted it. “I agree. I can barely move. My tummy is too empty. It’s devoured itself by now, I’m sure of it. There is nothing we can do now. No food is coming. We’ll never eat again.”

 

Those words settled over the girls for a moment.

“I wish it hadn’t ended like this. I just wanted to eat something one more time. I wish I knew why anyone would do this to us. I wish they’d feed us. I’m starving. My tummy is giving out its final cries. It sounds so sad. I wish I could put it out of its misery with a meal, but I guess not.” She-Hulk pouted and rubbed her tummy softly. Her flesh was soft, her tummy sunken. Her belly gurgled like it was giving out.

 

Susan could no longer toss or turn. She laid perfectly still in the sand and moved only her wrist to pet her tummy as it growled and whined outrageously. “Susan hungry. Belly…belly gone. Only echoes. Need food. Need to eat.”

 

“I’m so hungry. So barren inside. I thought those first days were bad, but this is so much worse. I’m starving, wrinkling up and drying up like a raisin inside. My tummy is deflated, pure and simple.” Power Girl patted her belly and it gurgled and squealed relentlessly. She truly felt hopeless, like her body would never know food again. “Maybe this really is the end.”

 

They stared off into space and didn’t complain for a long while as they waited for their tummies to finish them off. Then from over the horizon they saw a figure silhouetted on the skyline. It flew closer and closer, but they couldn't make it out. Then the sky began to glitch. It shimmied and speckled and then it shook harder and went dark. Toph could feel what the others saw. For a moment the girls all thought they had died, but the need was still in their stomachs.  
  
Then a light flashed on and they realized they were in some kind of white room filled with unusual wires and screens all around. It was a smaller space than the island and before them stood Superman, with his hand punched through a power box.

 

“Something changed,” Toph said as she sensed it.

 

"I've been looking all over for you," Superman said with a sigh.

 

Power Girl suddenly found strength she had thought was all gone. She shot up and crawled across the floor in a half-run half-scuffle. She clung to Superman’s leg and looked up at him beseechingly. “I’m so happy to see you! Please! You have to take me to some food! I’m starving! My tummy is loud and I’m so weak! Do you hear how empty my tummy is? Doesn’t it sound angry? Please! Food!”

 

The other girls followed her lead even though they didn’t know the man.

 

Raven crawled over and gripped at his tights. “Please! We’ve gone ages without food. My belly is so angry it’s eating me from the inside out. It needs to be filled or I’m going to die!” She rubbed her tummy with her free hand and it gurgled loudly for him to hear.

 

She-Hulk’s belly roared out as her expectations lifted. She found her footing temporarily and stumbled over before falling back down to her knees. She stroked her belly with both hands in desperation. She lifted her shirt to show off for the man. “Look at this! My taught tummy is all wrinkled and barren! There is nothing inside me. Please give me some food so I can fill myself up! I’m starving! I just want a good meal. Any meal! Anything! I’ll take scraps if you promise to feed me.”

 

Susan hurried over as if there would only be one meal and she wanted to be the one to get it. “Susan starved! Susan have biggest, emptiest tummy! Need food now! Please give food to Susan!” She grabbed Superman’s arm and shook it roughly before doubly over. She grabbed her belly and rubbed it. “Shh, tummy. Be quiet and we find food.”

 

Toph joined in last. She was so weak she thought she was hallucinating but she groped for the savior like the others. She rubbed her tummy with her free hand as it growled long and rough. It didn’t know rescue was right before it. It cried like normal. “Please, my gut is in shambles. My tummy is so sad. I need to fill myself up with food or I’ll vanish. Please, take pity. Won’t you feed us? Please feed us.

Superman looked at them all with pity. "Of course. Let's get you all something to eat." He picked them all up in his arms and flew them to food as fast as he could. He wanted them to eat before they really starved.

 

The girls ate like nothing he’d ever seen. They stuffed their faces until their bellies moaned from being too full. They patted their guts, but this time it was out of satisfaction.

 

Later he explained to them that whoever had captured them had gotten away, but had been keeping them in the simulator. It had taken him a long time to hunt them down.

 

The women didn't care. They had food now, and that was enough.


End file.
